I think its the len problem. Since the lens is new most stores will exchange it for you without any problem or restocking fee. I actually owned the 35 1.8 when it first came out for a week and decided to get the 50 1.4G instead because I'm gonna go FX in the future and Samy's took my return without a problem.

If you have to wiggle that pin a bit to get the aperture blades to open, there is a chance that you have some oil residue on the blades. check the blades to make sure they don't have any residue. if they do, i suggest you swap the lens for another, as it may become an issue as the lens gets older.

I found this post after searching GOOGLE for "nikon 35mm lens problem". I had the same exact problem as the OP. I received my D7000 on Tuesday and then received the 35mm f1.8G last night.

When I put the 35mm f1.8G on my D7000 this afternoon it was very dark through the eyepiece. I tried to press the shutter and nothing would happen. It wouldn't even focus. I was praying hard it wasn't the camera! So i switched the 35mm f1.8G with a 50mm f1.8D that was on my D80. The 50mm worked fine on the D7000.

After reading this thread, I tinkered with the 35mm f1.8G sliding pin. The pin was stuck because the blades weren't moving! So I just wiggled the pin and it loosened up. The pin now slides and the blades open as normal. I don't know what caused it to be stuck but I just hope it doesn't get stuck again.

I joined this forum today just to say THANKS to the OP for posting up his problem, all the posters with their suggestions, and most especially monty11 for his thorough explanation. Hope OP got his problem solved. I'll be sure to visit this site more often and I'll do my best to "pay it forward"! =)

spraynpray said:
There is no lens that 'doesn't work with the D7000', this is a faulty lens most likely.

4 weeks since the question, the OP should have visited a dealer the next day - what is the answer cscmohan?

sprayandpray, I agree with you, it should be written in the rules somewhere, or for courtesy sake, members should post the solutions to the questions asked, as there may be another member who's suffering the same problem and would like to know how it was resolved.

Using the search engine on this site is a great way to solve your problems, be it now or years down the road.

OutlierINC said:
I had very similar problems with my 35mm 1.8 on my D7000, all other lenses seem to work perfectly, but this lens and this camera dont seem to agree with each other

on dumber cameras like the D90 or the D70, the lens works perfectly, but on a D300 D3100 and D7000 it has some off issues

Sorry to say but you are wrong. The 35mm 1.8 works Great with the D7000. And I can prove it! I have a feeling that you both have something going on with your lens's. Stop by your local camera shop and have them look at the lens or have them put one your your D7000 body. Once you use the 35mm 1.8 it will become one of your must take lens when shooting.

I also think the problem is with the lens.
Fit the lens to the camera, but don't turn it yet. Look into the lens and you should see the aperture blades in the closed position. Now turn to lock the lens and the blades should open at the very end of the turn.

Take the lens off the camera and find the small sliding pin and see if it moves while looking into the lens. If it moves and nothing happens then it is the lens, if it moves and the aperture opens up, there's something wrong with the camera. Most probably the little arm that moves the aperture is bent or broken. It moves very easily, so don't use force when trying this or you might risk losing your warranty.

If the pin does not move, then try the camera with some other (one where the camera can operate the aperture) lens to see if the aperture opens up or not. If it doesn't, then you have the unlikely case that both are broken. I can't check the D7000 now (missus is sleeping and the camera bag is in the back room) but on the D40x the arm in the camera would move even if the lens' pin is stuck so you can't break it even if you used a faulty lens on the camera.

Not so good news - it sounds like the 35 1.8's aperture is not opening all the way up like it should. If you have a local store you got it from I would take your camera in and exchange the 35 1.8 and try a new one at the store.

Sounds as if there's something wrong with your lens, find a friend/neighbour with a Nikon body and try the lens on their camera...and if they've got a AF lens try it on your D7000, at least you'll narrow it down to body or lens ?
Forget a repair I'd be demanding a replacement or my money back.

I haven't come across anyone with a similar problem online making me wonder if it's something wrong I'm doing or if it's the camera and or lens.

I have a D7000 that I just un-boxed. I've charged the battery, inserted a working sd card, and attached a brand new 35mm f1.8g lens (which I also just bought). The problem is the viewfinder remains very dark (can hardly see through it) and when I press the shutter release half way, the camera tries (very slowly) to focus. Pressing the shutter release all the way down does not do anything. However if I change to live-view, though I can still see the image only very dimly on the lcd screen, the camera takes a picture when the shutter release is pressed all the way. I've made sure the lens is set to M/A, the focus mode to AF and Mode dial to Auto. Is there something else I should look at?
I have an older manual lens (non CPU) and the problem does not occur with it (focus mode set to Manual and mode dial set to M). The view finder is clear and bright with the lens attached and the camera seems to work fine with it.

Appreciate anyone who can help me with advise on this. I've already written Nikon but I really don't want to have to send a brand new camera back to them for repair.